The Ships of Air by Martha Wells
(Fall of Ile-Rien, book two)
It's a good thing one of us has impersonated a doctor.
A lot of fun, better than the first book in the series. I love Tremaine. There are several sides to her personality, not because she wants to keep people confused or on their toes (though she finds it useful sometimes), but because she's just that way. Somehow she manages to seem both out of her mind and competent, and often the most sensible person in the room.
How does Tremaine do it? She thought in frustration. Being half-mad helps, but she's made them realize she can do the job.
And everything goes out of control in this book. They have to overcome some pretty severe cultural differences. And Tremaine mostly keeps her sense of humor as plans fall apart.
"How many of these men are yours?"
Tremaine suppressed the sudden urge to say All of them.
"The blond one."
After surviving difficult situations together for several days, she and Ilias have become close. It's expressed not in things they say to one another, but in how they move. How when danger comes, they stand together. I like how their relationship develops in the way they feel each others' presence in a room, in how they look our for each other.
One of my favorite scenes began as a negotiation of an alliance, and got a lot more personal.
One man doesn't trust them and wants to keep the alliance from happening. "If you truly mean to accept us as equals, prove it. Prove it with a marriage alliance." And he points to Ilias, who he thinks no one would want to marry ever.
But Tremaine calls his bluff, agrees to marry Ilias after knowing him for just a few days, and the whole scene feels like she's dancing across whatever ideas present themselves just to get from one moment safely to the next -- which is exactly what she's doing.
That she and Ilias are great together is a bonus.
Another moment I loved: when I realized that guy in the Gardier city was Nicholas. Because it had to be.
Anyway, fun. I'm tempted to move on to book three now, but I'm enjoying hopping around several different series at once, so I'm going to read the next Jemisin book.
It's a good thing one of us has impersonated a doctor.
A lot of fun, better than the first book in the series. I love Tremaine. There are several sides to her personality, not because she wants to keep people confused or on their toes (though she finds it useful sometimes), but because she's just that way. Somehow she manages to seem both out of her mind and competent, and often the most sensible person in the room.
How does Tremaine do it? She thought in frustration. Being half-mad helps, but she's made them realize she can do the job.
And everything goes out of control in this book. They have to overcome some pretty severe cultural differences. And Tremaine mostly keeps her sense of humor as plans fall apart.
"How many of these men are yours?"
Tremaine suppressed the sudden urge to say All of them.
"The blond one."
After surviving difficult situations together for several days, she and Ilias have become close. It's expressed not in things they say to one another, but in how they move. How when danger comes, they stand together. I like how their relationship develops in the way they feel each others' presence in a room, in how they look our for each other.
One of my favorite scenes began as a negotiation of an alliance, and got a lot more personal.
One man doesn't trust them and wants to keep the alliance from happening. "If you truly mean to accept us as equals, prove it. Prove it with a marriage alliance." And he points to Ilias, who he thinks no one would want to marry ever.
But Tremaine calls his bluff, agrees to marry Ilias after knowing him for just a few days, and the whole scene feels like she's dancing across whatever ideas present themselves just to get from one moment safely to the next -- which is exactly what she's doing.
That she and Ilias are great together is a bonus.
Another moment I loved: when I realized that guy in the Gardier city was Nicholas. Because it had to be.
Anyway, fun. I'm tempted to move on to book three now, but I'm enjoying hopping around several different series at once, so I'm going to read the next Jemisin book.